The Israphel Trilogy Part 1: Pre-War
by AliceofGaming
Summary: Rewrite of Beginnings. Inspired by the Yogscast's Shadow of Israphel series. This story follows Israphel before he became the pale-faced man we now know-His life before the War. Rated T mostly for safety, but there will be some violence.
1. Prologue

A/N: In case you weren't aware, this is my rewrite of Beginnings. Yes, I'm making this a trilogy, and yes, that means that I will also be rewriting Israphel. Mind you, I don't plan to make a habit of rewriting my stories. This was my first fic and I want to make it more complete and amazing then I was able to when I began. This time around it's possible that I may go into a bit more detail about relationships and some OCs. Most of you didn't seem like that is the sort of thing that would bother you too much based on last time. This will still for the most part follow SoI canon, of course. You know how I am about venturing outside of those boundaries. Feel free to give criticism so long as it's constructive.

Enjoy.

* * *

What most people fail to understand is how long this war had gone on.

Not the proper, officially documented War, but its origins, so to speak.

Hundreds of years before the War, there was a pharaoh named Lehparsi. He was a powerful man, and, as most rulers did at the time, he wanted his dynasty to reign forever over the lands he controlled, and he wanted his empire to spread farther than any other had spread before.

Of course, he knew that the likeliness of such a thing happening openly and through his physical bloodline was very small. Other monarchies had tried. All had collapsed or been replaced after a short time.

So he came up with a plan.

You see, Lehparsi, as stated before, was extremely powerful. In fact, he was so powerful that he could barely be called something so simple and pure as a man. He had the power to corrupt the sands of Minecraftia and control them, he could reach into a person's thoughts and alter them, and when he died, he gained control over the Nether and the creatures of the night.

Lehparsi planned a conquest that would span over thousands of years. He chose a line of heirs, each with their own abilities. His influence over Minecraftia would leak into every single nook and cranny of the known world, and it would happen so stealthily that not a soul would notice until it was far too late.

Before he died, the first heir was chosen. An heir was taken from their biological family, raised and trained by someone in Lehparsi's already widespread organization, and killed when they were deemed to be the appropriate age. Once they died, they took a form that would allow them to fully utilize their powers and the powers of any heirs that had come before them.

Every fifteen years, the current heir would fade and be dissolved into an entity known as the Sands, and the next would come to power. This cycle continued for hundreds of years. There were some who were hesitant to take this power at first, but they ultimately accepted it.

That is, until the final heir's time came.

Notch was not pleased with this, by any means. He wanted to stop this evil from happening and cut it off at its root. However, his brother Herobrine had never liked how much Notch interfered with the mortals. He did not wish for the resulting bloodbath that would come if Lehparsi's empire was allowed to spread, but he believed that the people of Minecraftia should make their own way, at least to a degree. They discussed this issue, wishing to make a peaceful compromise, rather than start another battle between them much like the one that had cast Herobrine out of the Aether at the first of creation. (Though that, my friends, is a story for another day.) They decided upon a careful plan the counter that of Lehparsi.

With every heir, there would be a Hero capable of defeating them. If this hero was made aware of their role against the Sands, and if they had the support of the people, they would be able to destroy Lehparsi's empire. A group of Templars would also be created to fight against the Sands and keep the empire's growth slow and steady.

This, they understood, would only reduce the amount of blood spilled. Unless the Hero found a miracle, it was unlikely they would have the necessary support until the end, when the danger was apparent to all. So, to assure that Lehparsi's plan would never be completed, the brothers gave the last Hero an advantage.

Or rather, the last _Heroes. _

Not only would their be two Heroes-best friends with hearts of gold and a will of diamond- but an heir with the same traits as the Heroes themselves. This heir would have the will and strength to fight against greed and lust for power and the many, many years of work and careful planning before him.

This is his story.


	2. Chapter 1: The Beginning

Israphel sat under an oak tree indian-style with a book in his lap, occasionally looking up from it to see the other children playing in the field. He didn't play much with them, and he generally wasn't very talkative for his age. No one was really sure why that was, but then again, most people didn't bother to talk to him, so it couldn't really be his fault entirely, right? Either way, he didn't particularly care. They had their games, he had his books, and most days that was good enough for everyone.

Today, however, did not seem to be one of those days. Israphel had only been sitting there for ten minutes at the most when a girl's voice came from right over his shoulder.

"Why are you all the way over here?"

He jumped a bit in surprise. How long had she been right behind him?

"Um, hi," Israphel said in response. Looking at the girl that had suddenly materialized in front of him. She had long brown hair that was tied back into a braid, and wore a simple green dress with brown lace up boots.

"My name's Maria. I'm eight!" she declared, holding out four fingers on each hand. She had apparently decided that her question didn't really need to be answered.

"I'm Israphel," he replied, watching as she grabbed on to one of the lower branches of the oak tree. He continued talking as Maria pulled herself over the branch. "I'm nine. At least that's what we think. I was abandoned when I was little. That's how come the reverend took me in. We don't exactly know for sure when my birthday is. Maybe I'm actually eight like you."

"Really?" Maria asked. She hooked her legs around the branch and swung upside down, revealing a pair of shorts underneath the dress. "That's cool. Maybe we actually have the same birthday. That would be really fun."

"Yeah, I guess."

"So why don't you come play with us?" she asked him, landing soundly back on her feet in front of him.

"I don't know. I just don't think I'm very good at the games." he said quietly. His eyes wandered to the other kids playing some sort of tag, laughing and cheering.

"I'll just teach you then!" she decided. She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him to his feet. She was a lot stronger than he'd expected. She began to run, dragging him behind her.

"What's your name again?" Maria asked.

"Israphel."

"Huh. That's a weird name. Cool though. Issraahf... Israphel," she tested out the strange name. "Can I call you Izzy?"

"Sure, I guess." he replied as a bow was pushed into his hand.

"I'll teach you this game first." she said with an eager smile. "Archery is my favorite."


	3. Chapter 2: First Flight

He sprinted into the woods in the moonlight, thankful that this had at least happened when there was a full moon to light his path. He had only just gotten old enough to even venture so far into the woods at fifteen. It would be easy to get lost in the dark. Even easier to be killed by the creatures that hunted in the forest at night.

He didn't care.

The reverend was calling his name, shouting apologies that Israphel didn't even know were sincere or not. The old man stumbled a few steps behind him before tripping over his own feet, too drunk to continue.

None of the adults seemed to notice that people went missing or that their reverend was angry and drunk some nights. Only the few children that Israphel was friends with noticed the bruises and cuts that occasionally painted his skin. The beatings had decreased dramatically when Maria had found him because he had an excuse to stay away from the house more often. John approved of him learning archery and sword fighting with the others more than he did of Israphel sitting around reading all day. Still, the beatings still happened, and tonight had been one of the worst.

Blood trickled from his nose and a cut under his left eye steadily, leaving angry streaks on his shirt. Tears of pain and anger blurred his vision, and rocks and twigs stung his bare feet. His whole body was sore beyond belief. There would be lots of bruising this time. He didn't know what he'd done wrong. It could have been nothing. Perhaps John was just being drunk and angry.

He didn't care.

He just ran.

Deeper and deeper into the woods he went. The lights of Terrorvale were lost behind him. His lungs burned and blood roared in his ears. He had to get away. He heard a call behind him, just barely. Not John's, but someone else. He couldn't place whose; the thought of escape was too powerful in his mind. He kept blindly fleeing, until he put down his foot ahead of him, and it touched nothing but air.

Israphel's momentum carried him over the edge of the ledge. He let out a short yelp as he fell into nothingness. As he fell, he heard the person call out his name once more, before leaping over the edge and wrapping their arms around him. They both fell together and hit the chilly waters of the glassy lake beneath them.

The cold of the water froze him. His thoughts and his heartbeat slowed, and his limbs didn't move even to swim to the surface. Everything slowed to a crawl and was focused in alarming clarity. He floated there, not particularly worried about drowning, and let the cool, quiet water caress him and pull him down.

The other person untangled themselves from him and took hold of his wrist. They pulled him up with what seemed to be great difficulty. They couldn't have been much bigger than Israphel. He snapped himself out of his daze and provided a few good kicks, and they surfaced, Israphel only now realizing how much oxygen his lungs had been deprived of. He and the other person swam a couple yards over to shore, and he collapsed, hurt and lightheaded.

"Dear Notch, Izzy, you look a mess. Hold on a sec, I'll go grab my pack. I dropped it before we went in the lake so it wouldn't get wet." A familiar feminine voice said, but it felt far away. He felt so dizzy.

"Maria?" He groaned softly, pairing a name and increasingly out of focus face with the voice.

"Yeah, Izzy, it's me. It's okay, I'll be right back."

"Okay..." Israphel whispered before letting the dizziness overtake him and falling into blackness.

* * *

...

_What the... Where am I? Oi, my head..._

Israphel regained consciousness slowly, looking up at the stars that were coming into focus above him. The memories of his escape coming back to him. He felt the warmth of fire on his skin and looked over to see Maria kneeling next to the fire in a now dirty and damp blue nightgown that reached her knees when she stood. She also wore a pair of brown leather hiking boots that looked as if they had been hastily laced up and tied.

He sat up, coughing. Maria looked in his direction with concern, firelight dancing in her eyes. Her frown melted into a gentle smile, and she stood and walked around the fire to him.

"Are you okay? You passed out. I guess you figured that out didn't lose that much blood, though. I think you must be sick or something. You aren't the kind of guy who'd just fall over after a long sprint into a dangerous forest at night."

As if punctuating her thoughts, he began to cough up his lungs. His head spun again, and he felt sick. He couldn't even sit up straight.

"I think I have a concussion." He said slowly.

"Oh no, what happened?"

"I don't know... The usual I guess, but worse. Tried fighting back again. Got my head slammed against something. I didn't black out, but it hurt like the Nether. I just wanted to go to bed, its been a ridiculously long day, but he just kept hitting me, telling me I couldn't. I had to stay up and do something, I think. I couldn't understand much of it really. He was drunk. He kept talking about something in the crypt. Creepy old man. He pulled a knife on me." He gestured towards the now bandaged cut.

"Yeah, I heard you screaming."

Israphel chuckled nervously and ran his fingers through his hair. "That's... Embarrassing."

"You ran through what appears to be slight brain damage and tons of pointy rocks stabbing your feet, only stopping when you fell over a bloody cliff. I'll give you a pass. Just don't do it again."

"And you're not gonna tell anyone that I ran away like a coward and my friend, who is both younger and a girl, had to come save me?"

"What do you have against girls?"  
She raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing at all."

She looked up at the moon, which had traveled a great distance since he'd begun his flight.

"The sun's about to come up." Maria noted.

"We've been out all night. Won't your parents be worried?"

"I told my mum I couldn't sleep and was going for a walk. She doesn't care if I'm up all night on weekends." Maria shrugged.

"In the woods, in your nightie, with a boy?"

"Apparently. They didn't exactly know you would be involved, though. It's like all the adults here are daft. Remember Karen? The girl that moved to Mistral with her family a few years back?"

"Yeah?" Israphel replied. He managed to stand on his bandaged feet and picked up Maria's pack for her. The stars were just starting to disappear in the slowly brightening sky.

"We were friends, so she wrote me occasionally. She said that her parents started acted different when they left. Less oblivious to what she was doing and what was going on."

"Really?" He asked as they began their trek back home. He was gonna have to get a doctor to have a look at him. Maria was good a bandaging smaller cuts, but he had to do something about his head.

"Yeah," Maria fell silent for a moment. "There's something wrong with this place. I don't know what, but there's something or someone in the village that's causing stuff to go all weird. Do you think it's John?"

"It might be." He stumbled slightly, feeling dizzy again. Maria steadied him. He frowned. "I don't want to go back home."

"Yeah, I know. What else can we do, though?"

"We could run. I guess not now, but when we know the woods better and can survive by ourselves for longer periods of time. We're good at camping by ourselves; we can make fires and tend to wounds and stuff. We could probably do it."

"I don't know. I still have my mum and my brothers. I could just be over thinking the situation. Maybe it's normal for adults to be like they are around here. We do need to do something about your situation though. I hate to see you get beat up so much, but I think running could cause you more trouble in the end... I don't know. I'll think about it."

Israphel heard the obvious reluctance in her voice and decided not to push it further. This must be what they call a no-win situation. He could run, and possibly get Maria in trouble- they'd question her first if he were to disappear- or he could stay and take the scars.

He'd have to think about it later, when he could think straight.


	4. Chapter 3: Recovering

Israphel awoke from the best night of sleep he'd had in a while. He yawned and stretched, still a bit sore from his short escape into the woods. They'd taken him to a doctor with a half-true story about how he'd fallen in the woods while hunting, and he'd been diagnosed with a concussion and a cold. John had made him stay in bed for a while, but he probably needed it and at least the man didn't bother him much while he was stuck in bed. It gave him an opportunity to catch up on sleep. Three days passed, and he was now allowed up, just not in the forest.

Fair enough. For now.

He was tempted to tunnel back under the covers and sleep some more, because who knew when he was going to get another good night's sleep, but decided to suck it up and face the day. He got dressed, choosing a gray t-shirt and some jeans. Nothing fancy. It was just Saturday, after all. He considered shoes for a moment, but decided that he wasn't going outside anytime soon, and quite frankly, he was feeling exceptionally lazy today. Best he just grabbed some breakfast and spent the day inside with a book or something.

_I guess I should try to accomplish something today. I bet being all lazy isn't terribly good for me, _he thought. _Then again, I'm a teenager on a Saturday. I have good marks in all of my classes, I don't have anything important to do today, and I'm still recovering from a concussion that still occasionally makes me dizzy enough that I fall on my face in the middle of trying to walk to the kitchen. I'm taking a rest day, _he decided, then noted, _One I'll be mostly conscious for. Not like the slightly drug-induced coma I've been in for the past couple of days._

That decided, Israphel walked across his room to the door. He placed his hand on the knob to turn it and open the door, but paused when he heard John talking to someone just outside.

"I don't know, he just ran off. Not like he had planned it or anything. The boy wasn't even wearing shoes." John's voice drifted through the door. Israphel pressed his ear to the door to listen. They seemed to be talking about him.

"Do you think he would have kept going though, if he hadn't fallen?" Another voice asked. He didn't recognise the voice, but it sounded like that of a younger adult man.

"I doubt it. He may have been upset, but he knows better than to try and run away without at least food and some good shoes. He'd probably bring a sword or bow too, if he had the chance." John replied.

"He could be trouble, John. It may be about time to move on to the next phase. The current guy's time is almost up, and it would be good to have him be in the proper state to take over at least a week before."

"I suppose we _do_ need to do it quickly. Before he does actually run away."

"So you do think he will run away eventually?"

"He doesn't like me much. He's already out of the house most of the time. Either at school or with that girl and their friends playing in the woods."

"Aren't you training him?"

There was a slight pause, then John spoke. "I think he's learned more than I could properly teach him by running around the forest with them. He's picked up hunting, sword fighting, and a variety of other skills from them. He learns quickly."

"That _is _the point of him, John. The others will have to teach him in a surprisingly short amount of time. He's the final heir. You know what that means."

"I do."

"Don't screw this up John. You're not nearly as important as you think you are, and if you wait too long, _if you fail us,_ John, we will get rid of you. Quickly. Maybe you should spend less time getting drunk and more time preparing him."

"Understood."

He heard the shifting of some furniture and then the front door opening and closing. He considered coming out of his room, but decided to wait a bit just in case it would make John guess that he had been standing there the whole time. He quietly slipped away from the door and fell back on his bed, thinking about what he had heard. It all sounded like nonsense, but it certainly didn't make him feel safe here. In fact, he knew now more than ever that he needed to get out of here.

They were planning something, and whatever was going to happen was going to happen soon.

* * *

John left a bit later, having some vague work-related thing to tend to, so Israphel was home alone for most of the day. He was munching lazily on an apple and reading a fairly thick and properly violent fantasy novel that was more written for guys than that princess and knight stuff that girls read. Lots of sword fights and dragon-slaying. He heard a knock at the door and put it down to open it.

"Hi, Izzy!" Maria greeted him cheerfully, ignoring the fact that his hair was as messy as heck, and that he wasn't wearing any shoes. Actually, besides the fact that he didn't look much better than when he had first gotten up, he was still all bruised from a few days ago, so even if he had bothered to brush his hair he would have looked terrible.

She was carrying a basket that held a fresh green watermelon, presumably from her garden, and she was wearing a light peach-coloured sun dress that her mom had probably picked out for her. She didn't mind dresses, really, but they certainly weren't her first choice. She liked things you could get a bit dirty without people scolding you for it. He liked Maria. He talked more when she was with him.

"Hey, Maria." Israphel replied.

"Can I come in?" she asked.

"Um, sure." He said, stepping aside to let her in. She set the basket down on the table and started going through the cupboards to get a couple of plates and a knife to cut the melon open with.

"So John's not here?" She asked as she sliced.

"Nope. Won't be for a few more hours, at least."

"What exactly does he do all day? It's not like he's a miner who spends all day collecting ores, or a shopkeeper or blacksmith that makes and sells things at the market in Mistral over the weekends and festival holidays. Being the local reverend is a respectable job, but what is he doing if he's not at the church or whatever?"

"I guess he studies." Israphel shrugged.

"Yeah, that would make sense. I guess he just goes somewhere else to do it. Like, where no one will bother him."

"Yeah." She handed him a few melon slices and moved to another topic.

"So how's that pretty little face of yours holding up, friend? You looked bloody awful a few days ago, and it looks like you've still got some nasty bruises." She asked lightly. He rolled his eyes. Lots of the guys they hung out with had a habit of calling him "pretty" to mess with him, especially since he was one of the youngest, and, as they had decided, had a fairly girlish face. Maria seemed to have picked it up as well.

"I'll live. My feet healed up pretty quickly, and I guess the bruising on my face isn't too bad. The doctor was more concerned about the concussion. I've got some mild brain damage apparently."

"Well, we already knew that. You're not exactly the sharpest axe in the shed, Izzy." Maria teased.

"Really now?" He chuckled.

"You should be more careful, though. Okay? I can't have you just dying on me. You seemed pretty cool with just sinking to the bottom of that lake and drowning the other night."

"I don't know..."

_Would_ he have just let himself drown? He hadn't thought about that, not really. Was it _that _bad? There was a pause in the conversation, and he could tell Maria was waiting, deciding to let him decide where the conversation would go from here. He thought back to what he heard that morning.

"I might leave soon." He said.

"Really? Like, _leave_ leave?" She frowned slightly.

"Yeah. I need to get out of here soon. I'm afraid to wait much longer. I feel like there's something coming, and I need to get out of here before it's too late."

"As long as you're sure..." She took a bite of melon, chewing thoughtfully. "But, hey, you have to promise me something, okay?"

"What's that?"

"If you think you have time, don't just pack up and leave, okay? Promise me you'll go out to the forest with us again. We could all go camping one last time before you go and disappear on us forever. Me, you, and the others. Just one more fun thing that we could all do." She looked at him, waiting for a reply.

"Sure," Israphel agreed simply. She seemed satisfied with this one-word answer, but oddly _he _wasn't. There was something gnawing at him. Something he wanted to add to that. Without thinking he decided what that was.

"Actually, maybe just me and you could go. Without the others." He added.

"Really?" She looked at him, trying to decide what this meant. "Like how do you mean?"

"I don't know. You. Me. Forest. Maybe over the next weekend."

"Just us? No one else?"

"Yeah, I guess. If that's okay with you."

"Um, yeah. Sure, sounds great."

There was a very long moment of awkward silence before Maria switched topics and started the conversation going again.

"So how's that book you were reading?"

He smiled.


	5. Chapter 4: Running

"Do you have all of your stuff, Izzy?" Maria asked. They had just met up outside the woods to go camping together for the weekend. They'd done this several times since they were old enough to enter the forest by themselves, even in the winter. He smiled.

"Of course I do. It's not like this is the first time we've gone camping for a weekend." He replied, starting off into the trees. She followed closely behind.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's starting to get cold, isn't it? Last week I was wearing a sun dress, and today it's cold enough that the lakes might freeze over. I see you're wearing your coat."

"Yep. Not catching a cold this time!"

She chuckled before running a few steps to get ahead of him. He shifted his pack, preparing for a foot race, but she stopped after going only a few feet ahead of him. She turned to face him.

"You know, Izzy, it's been ages since we've come out here without the others. I thought maybe we could stay at our secret base!" Maria suggested.

"Sure." Israphel agreed.

The secret base was a cave the two of them had found a few years ago. It wasn't terribly far into the forest, but it was well-hidden. It was about the size of a large room, but not a massive cavern with twisting tunnels that monsters lived in. It was perfect.

They set up there the night they found it, furnishing it with a furnace for warmth, a crafting table, and torches for light. They had enough wool for one bed, which they shared without thinking much of it. They were like a brother and sister, and their relationship was so decidedly platonic that their parents didn't mind leaving them alone or letting them go off by themselves. They had eventually made another, but it was pushed next to the original to expand it a bit, rather than placed separately. When they got older, they each kept to their side, no longer sleeping in a messy tangle of childish limbs as they had in the past, now understanding that sleeping in the same bed as someone supposedly meant something, though they didn't have the mushy feelings for each other that their parents had described when they had reached adolescence. They were eventually were going to move the beds back apart, but never got around to it.

They arrived at the cave and put down most of their things. Israphel pulled his sword out of its sheath.

"Hey, Maria, I haven't shown you this yet, have I?" He asked, holding it up to see it reflecting the dancing torchlight. She turned from the things she was organizing to look.

"Is that a new sword?"

"Yeah. Crafted it myself. It took a few times to get the iron shaped the way I wanted it. What do you think?" He handed her the blade and she took a few experimental swings, and examined it.

"Very nice. Incredibly shiny." She noted. The hilt was made of a smooth dark wood. The wood was lightly carved with subtle but intricate designs. She admired it for a bit before asking, "How long did it take you to make this?"

"A couple of weeks. The blade was the difficult part. Like I said, shaping the metal properly took forever to get right. Carving the wood wasn't too bad, but it takes time to do it without screwing it up." He replied as she gave him back the sword. He sheathed it and leaned against the stone wall. "So, we have a few good hours of daylight before the temperature drops and the sun goes down. What do you propose we do?"

"Let's explore!" Maria exclaimed. She grabbed his bow and arrows and shoved them into his hands. Before he could blink she was running through the forest deeper than they had been before.

They climbed over rocks and through trees, laughing and smiling. They ran so fast that it almost felt like flying.

"Bet you can't catch me!" Maria yelled back at him before making a sharp right and disappearing into another part of the forest. Israphel chased her as she darted in and out of view. He had almost caught her when they burst into a clearing. He reached out his hand to take hers and win the game, but his hand closed around air.

He stopped, confused. She had disappeared. He looked around the clearing for any sign of movement.

"Peekaboo!" She dropped from a tree branch behind him, hanging upside-down by her knees. Israphel jumped and whirled around, startled. She laughed and fell out of the tree. Israphel caught her and threw her over his shoulder.

"I win." He said smugly. She kicked and flailed in protest as he carried her back to the cave.

"Put me down, pretty-boy!" She half shrieked, half laughed. Israphel sighed dramatically and put her down.

"Fine."

She punched him in the arm.

They walked back as the sun set and slept soundly through the chilly night.

He would miss this.


	6. Chapter 5: Flying

Maria stood in the fresh snow, admiring the beautiful white crystals. She laughed and spun, her feet making impressions and patterns. Israphel stood quietly, watching her with a quiet smile.

"I knew it was going to be cold, but I didn't think it would snow!" She exclaimed cheerfully. She was always so happy. He liked that. She ran ahead, him following behind as always. Everything was silent and peaceful. They slowed to a walk, admiring the forest's beauty in crisp silence. They came to the lake, which was frozen over.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Israphel asked softly.

"Yeah." Maria replied, barely a whisper. She stepped closer to the frozen water.

"Maria, be careful." He warned, his voice a bit louder and laced with concern."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," She insisted. She took a step out onto the lake. "Look, it's only like a foot deep here. If it breaks I'll be fine." She put her weight on the ice.

It held.

"See, it's strong enough." She assured him. He wasn't convinced.

"I don't think you should do that. We're not far enough into the winter for the ice to be thick enough to go out there yet." His voice was stern, something she wasn't used to. She considered this warning for a moment.

"I won't go out much farther." She glided out a few more feet, the lake still holding her weight. He supposed it did look strong enough, so long as she didn't go out to the middle where it would be weakest. He still felt uneasy about it, though. She slid in careful circles about seven feet out, whistling a simple melody that echoed through the silent forest. She spun gracefully, occasionally tripping and catching herself, as she wasn't using proper skates.

She paused for a moment, having heard a small noise. She looked down and back up at Israphel with wide eyes. They both heard it again, a quiet cracking noise. Maria started back carefully, but after only a couple of steps, she fell onto a weak patch of ice and disappeared into the dark water.

Israphel went in after her, not thinking, just acting on instinct. The icy water painfully sharpened his senses. He quickly took her limp form and pulled both of them back out of the water. Maria was unconscious. She must have hit her head when she fell. He carried her, running swiftly through the trees.

He reached the cave quickly, laying her down and stripping her of her heavy, soaked coat and other outer-wear, leaving her in a navy tank top and trousers. He pulled a dry, warm blanket over her and started a fire for warmth. He pulled off some of his soaked clothes as he walked back over to her. He took her wrist, feeling for a pulse that was considerably slower than his. To be fair, he was only just coming down from the adrenaline, so it would be faster.

_Get her warm. She wasn't under for long. She just needs to warm up and wake up. She'll be fine. _He thought. _It's okay. It's okay._

In reality, it wasn't long before she stirred. It felt like ages to Israphel, though. When he saw her sit up, slightly confused. Naturally, she wouldn't have any memory of returning, possibly none of the past few hours entirely. She looked at him groggily, trying to piece together the fragments. The concern on his face was obvious.

"Is everything okay Izzy?" She blinked. "I... I fell didn't I?" Realization spread over her face, and he practically leapt across the room to embrace her.

"_Don't you ever do that again._" His voice broke in to sobs. He hadn't realized how terrified he'd been. She returned the embrace, feeling him tremble slightly in her arms. "Don't scare me like that again." He whispered through tears.

She rubbed gentle circles on his back like her mother did when she comforted her. "It's okay. I'm fine. Everything's okay." They stayed like this for a few minutes, and Israphel quickly regained his composure.

"I'm sorry." He said, seemingly apologising for breaking down like he had.

"No, it's fine. Really, _I_ should be sorry. I should have listened to you. If it weren't for you, I'd be dead." She replied.

"I could say the same about you, couldn't I?"

"I suppose."

There was a long silence, them just looking at each other. Not an awkward silence, just a lack of words.

Then Israphel had an idea.

A dangerous idea.

He considered it for a moment, before deciding that it would be worth the risk.

He closed the small gap between them, gently taking her face in his hands and pressing his lips to hers. It wasn't rough or greedy, just a soft, quick contact that sent a pleasant shiver down his spine. He pulled away, waiting for her response. She looked back at him blankly, shocked. His heart sunk slightly.

"I'm sorry, I just-"

He was cut off by her pulling him back to her and kissing him, less gently this time. The kiss deepened as he threaded his fingers through her hair, still letting her mostly choose the pace. She leaned forward into him and he sank back into the floor.

Okay. They should really move the beds apart now, because this certainly wasn't anywhere near platonic anymore. Yeah. That would probably be smart.

They didn't.

A/N: Don't worry. That's about as close as this is gonna get to slash for a very long time. A _very, very _long time.


	7. Chapter 6: Falling

Israphel woke up, one arm draped over Maria, who was sleeping soundly with her head on his bare chest. He knew that they would have to have a very serious conversation before they went home the next day, but for now he would enjoy the moment. He carefully threaded his fingers through her dark, messy hair and tucked her head beneath his chin.

Home.

He wouldn't be going home, would he? He didn't know what he would do, actually. He was planning to leave tomorrow morning, but now...  
He'd have to add that to the list of complicated things to work out.

She stirred, her breathing breaking from the slow, regulated pace of sleep. Rather than getting right up and being her usual bouncy self, she groaned and curled up into him.

"Morning, Maria."

"Shut up." She growled.

He ruffled her hair playfully and sat up. "Something wrong? You're usually quite the morning person. You should be dragging _me_ out of bed."

She rolled over onto her back. "I'm in like five different kinds of pain right now, Izzy."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise, love. It's probably a direct result of me being stupid. I guess I could blame you for my back being so bloody sore, but that might be a stretch."

"Maybe." He smirked. She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, pretty-boy."

Figuring they wouldn't be getting out of bed any time soon, he laid back down on his side to look at her eye to eye. "So I guess this is a thing now. Us I mean."

"I don't know what else to call it after last night."

"I can't decide whether or not I'm glad I won't be coming home or not. Your parents would kill me if they found out. Then again, I could very well not see you again after tomorrow. It was going to be difficult enough before all of this."

"I could always go with you." She said.

"I won't turn down that offer, but if you have any reservations, any doubts, then I would rather you stay with your family."

"I'll think about it."

"No rush to decide. You have until tomorrow morning." He paused, deciding to change the subject. "If you're not too sore, we could go hunting today."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

They hunted in the snow-blanketed forest silently, having done this many times before. There was a pattern in their hunting style, like a well choreographed dance between two people. They kept in perfect step with each other, but the prey was scarce. After a few hours of nothing but a few barely missing arrows shot at birds, they decided to stop for lunch.

The day went fairly uneventfully. They managed to kill a couple of smaller animals in their hunt, which they would use for their dinner. They talked as they walked back to the cave about light subjects, lacing the words with touches of affection. They would sometimes call each other "love" or "dear", but they somehow felt it more meaningful to call the other by name. The way Maria said "Israphel" rather than just "Izzy" sometimes felt very intimate. Their relationship was made up of simple things for the most part, and it suited them fine.

The sun was setting, shadows growing to fill the entire forest with the dark of night.

"We'd better get tucked away in our shelter soon. The monsters are everywhere in this bit of the forest at night." Maria noted.

"No need to worry. We're almost back there. I forgot how quickly it gets dark this time of year."

As if to punctuate Israphel's words, an arrow shot past his head. He quickly spun around to find where it had come from, his own bow at the ready. It was a skeletal archer, as he had suspected. No big deal. He shot it down with relative ease.

"Nice job." Maria complimented.

"Thanks, I-"

Two arrows this time, one brushing past his ear and the other grazing his arm. Maria readied her bow. Three new archers had appeared. The sound of zombies and spiders could be heard coming closer.

"It's way too early for so many of these to be out right now. The sun's not even properly down yet." She frowned. More and more monsters closed in on them. It was unnatural, the numbers they came in.

They started to come too close for a bow to be effective, so Israphel pulled out his sword, and Maria followed suit. Blood roared in his ears. He was good at fighting, but this many at once? At least Maria knew her way around a sword as well. An arrow hit him in the shoulder, and he cried out in pain. Maria, who was visibly exhausted from fighting looked over to him with concern. He wasn't sure if they would be able to hold out much longer.

He clenched his teeth and pulled the arrow out, taking a moment to take a swing at a spider that leapt towards him. Most skeletal archers only shot arrows with heads that pierced through skin and armor easily, but also could be pulled out without too much effort due to their shape. As long as it didn't hit any internal organs, you'd probably live. They managed to get through another few monsters, and for a moment it seemed as if no more would come. They looked at each other, panting and bleeding from what were thankfully minor wounds.

"What the bloody Nether was that?" He asked, scanning the trees.

"Not normal, that's what. We'd better get back. It really is dark now."

He nodded, and they turned to start back to the cave.

_Hsssssss_.

They froze for a moment, knowing that familiar sound. Israphel took Maria's arm and pushed her away before he was tossed in the air by an explosion. His ears were ringing as he scrambled to pick up his sword and stand up. He staggered slightly, scanning the trees. More were coming. Five, six, seven creepers swarmed towards them. No way they'd be able to fight them off in this condition.

He made the second dangerous decision that he'd made that weekend. One that would likely cost him his life.

"Maria?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you can run back to the village by yourself from here?"

"Yeah. It's only a bit less than a mile. I could make it easily if it weren't for these things."

"Go. I'll hold them off as long as I can."

"But they'll kill you!"

"I said go!" He shouted, looking at her with pleading eyes. She stood there hesitantly, eyes flickering between him and the approaching horde.

"I love you." She said, and darted away.

Israphel took a deep breath. He wouldn't survive this. Perhaps if she'd stayed and helped him fight he could have done it, but it was just as likely that she would die. He wouldn't risk that.

He took out the first two easily. The third exploded, but did so far enough away that he wasn't thrown back. This pattern was continued by the next few creepers, but Israphel was severely weakened. Two more approached him, and he was too slow to strike. Both exploded simultaneously, throwing him forcefully against a tree. His sword was two far away to grab, and his head swam from the bleeding and impact.

The monsters parted and turned away to slink back into the trees. Back out of the darkness came John, walking calmly towards his crumpled form.

"It's okay, Israphel. It won't hurt much longer," He said. He pulled a dagger out and with a quick motion stabbed Israphel through the heart. Israphel let out a choked cry of pain before darkness closed in on his vision, and the Nether took him into its grasp.

* * *

The sounds of fighting ceased behind Maria, and she decided to turn back. If there was any chance he was alive, she couldn't just leave him. She made it to where she had left Israphel, ducking behind a tree. John was there, kneeling over Israphel. He didn't look terribly concerned that Israphel was laying there much too still for her liking. Oh dear Notch, was that a knife? She tried to keep the sob rising up inside of her contained, but failed. John looked in her direction, not seeing her, but knowing someone was there, and he slunk back into the trees from which he came.

Maria walked over to his body, tears streaming down her face. She fell to the ground beside him and sobbed. Anger and grief swirled around inside her. No way this had been an accident. He'd been murdered. This day had been too much for her.

She couldn't go back home. Whoever had done this knew what she had seen. Who was to say that they wouldn't go after her? She took a deep breath. Either way, she couldn't just sit here like a sniveling toddler. Time to grow up. Be strong. He'd want that, wouldn't he?

Maria stood, having made her decision. It wasn't that she took what she was about to do lightly, but she didn't have the time to waste. She picked his sword up off of the ground and set off in the opposite direction of the village. Reciting a blessing under her breath as she walked.

"_When the storms break for him, may the trees shake for him their blossoms down,"_

A stray zombie crossed her path. She sliced through it without pausing.

"_And in the night that he is troubled, may a friend wake for him so that his time be doubled,"_

Something had shifted inside her. She was less bouncy and lighthearted. She walked on.

" _And at the end of all loving and love, may the_ _lord above give him a crown."_

The truth was, when Israphel died, Maria had died with him.

* * *

A/N: I think that will wrap up this part of the trilogy. Part 2 will be started soon enough. The poem is an old Irish blessing called "Their Blossoms Down", which also happens to be the title of a beautiful piece of music by Samuel Hazo. You should go listen to that. It's great. ^_^


End file.
